PROFESSIONAL MUSICAL THEATER SINCE 1980
Music Theater Works is a resident professional not-for-profit music theater in Skokie, Illinois, founded in 1980. The mission is: to present works for the musical stage, creating a bridge for all audiences from classic works to the present day; to develop the next generation of theater professionals and patrons; and to engage the community in music, theater, and the arts.
The company presents both full and innovative productions of standard musical theater repertoire and new works, as well as historic repertoire like operetta, using staging, technology and audience engagement in new ways. YouthREACH, the company’s growing program for young people, covers all aspects of theater from performance to technology. Creative collaborations with arts and community partners are a vital part of the artistic and social approach for all programs.
Music Theater Works is committed to inclusion and diversity, from show selection to casting to creative teams, to engaging with the community to create a more responsive, inclusive, and equitable company. Music Theater Works’ values infuse all aspects of the company:
- We care about what aspect of the world we are putting on stage.
- We are additive to the cultural landscape.
- We support artists over time and through multiple projects.
- Music is a vital connection to our artistic image of theater.
- The art we produce is not separable from the communities in which we exist.
- We support equity and diversity on and off stage.
Representative repertoire includes:
European Operettas
Works by Léhar, Kálmán, Offenbach, Gilbert and Sullivan, Johann Strauss, Jr. and Oscar Straus, including The Merry Widow, Countess Maritza, La Belle Hélène, The Mikado, Die Fledermaus and The Chocolate Soldier.
American Operettas
By Romberg, Friml and Herbert, such as The Student Prince, Rose-Marie and Sweethearts.
Classic American Musicals
From Rodgers and Hammerstein, Lerner and Loewe, Jerry Herman, Irving Berlin and Cole Porter, including Anything Goes, South Pacific, My Fair Lady, Kiss Me, Kate, Hello, Dolly! and Annie Get Your Gun.
Contemporary Works
Into the Woods, Ragtime, A Little Night Music, Soup du Jour, No Way to Treat a Lady, C’est la vie, The Secret Garden and others.
Revues
Tintypes, Side by Side by Sondheim, Berlin to Broadway with Kurt Weill and others.
“Greatest Hits” Concerts
Hollywood, Operetta, Jule Syne, Gershwin, Cole Porter.
Rarely Performed Pieces
Including Knickerbocker Holiday, Utopia Limited, Carnival!, One Touch of Venus, Wonderful Town and Babes in Toyland.
Crossover Works
Including Kismet, Candide, The Golden Apple and Lady in the Dark.
Visit Past Shows for complete repertory.
Bridget McDonough, Founding General Manager
Bridget McDonough was employed in arts management from 1978, when she graduated from Northwestern University, until her 2019 retirement as general manager of Music Theater Works, which she co-founded (as Light Opera Works) in 1980 with Philip Kraus and others. Prior to founding Light Opera Works she worked for The Organic Theater Company in Chicago, The Troupe in Colorado Springs and Actors Equity Association.
She has served on the boards of many arts and civic organizations both nationally and locally in the Chicago area. She is past president of the Rotary Club of Evanston and the North Shore International Network, where she still holds memberships. She served on the boards of the Evanston Convention and Visitors’ Bureau, Evanston Chamber of Commerce, Evanston Arts Alliance, National Alliance for Musical Theatre, Chicago Music Alliance, Around the Coyote, as well as the School of Communication Alumni Board at Northwestern University and the tourism committee of Chicago’s North Shore Convention and Visitors’ Bureau.
Ms. McDonough was honored by the Evanston YWCA with their “Women on the Move” Award in 1991 and by the Evanston Chamber of Commerce with their 2009 Public Service/Nonprofit Person of the Year Award.
She is currently on the board of the Musicians Club of Women and Season of Concern in Chicago, the Tubac Nature Center in Arizona, and Write 4 Art in Los Angeles. She is a member of the advisory board of the Rocky Mountain Ballet Theatre in Montana.
Bridget served as an international judge at the Second Vladimir Kurochkin International Competition of Young Artists of Operetta and Musicals in Yekaterinburg, Russia, and VIBE (Vienna International Ballet Experience) in Missoula, Montana. She currently is serving as an international juror for Ballet Beyond Borders.
Prior to her career in arts management, she studied dance and theater in Milwaukee and Chicago.
Bridget retired from Music Theater Works at the end of the 2019 season.
NOTABLE PRODUCTIONS
2019 – Chicago professional premiere of The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
2015 – Chicago premiere of expanded full-orchestra production of The Fantasticks.
2005, 2014 – New English translation of Lehár’s The Merry Widow by Jack Helbig and Gregg Opelka.
2005 – Staged revival of Darling of the Day.
2004 – American premiere of the English National Theatre’s version of Bernstein’s Candide.
2003 – First English translation of Offenbach’s The Island of Tulipitan.
1998 – First English translation of Kálmán’s The Duchess of Chicago.
1995 – Full staged revival of the rarely performed The Golden Apple.
1993 – Chicago premiere of Houston Grand Opera’s revised version of Herbert’s Babes in Toyland, starring Ray Rayner.
1989 – First production of Weill’s reconstructed Lady in the Dark.
AWARDS AND RECOGNITION
- General Manager Bridget McDonough recipient of 2009 Public Service/Nonprofit Award from Evanston Chamber of Commerce.
- Artists continually recognized by critics for outstanding performances:
Justin Adair (Lt. Cable in South Pacific and Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls)
One of Chicago Tribune’s “Hot New Faces of 2015.”
James Harms (Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha)
One of the “10 best performances of 2012” by Chicago Tribune.
Nick Sandys (Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady)
“Best Actor 2011” by Chicago Magazine.
Natalie Ford (Julie Jordan in Carousel)
One of the “10 best performances of 2010” by Chicago Tribune.
Larry Adams (Fredrick in A Little Night Music and other shows)
“Best Singer of 2010” by Chicago Magazine.
Megan Long (Petra in A Little Night Music)
One of Chicago Tribune’s “Hot New Faces of 2009.”
- Mame named one of the Top 10 Shows of 2016 by Chicago Theater and Arts.
- Exchanges and collaborations with international companies and artists from Russia, Hungary and China.
- Repeatedly named to “10 Best” and “Best of the Year” lists by Chicago media.
- Recipient of 2002 Evanston Mayor’s Award for the Arts.
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
Music Theater Works is a member of the Arts Alliance Illinois, League of Chicago Theatres, North Shore Convention and Visitors’ Bureau, Evanston Chamber of Commerce, Wilmette/Kenilworth Chamber of Commerce and National Alliance for Musical Theatre.
Music Theater Works has collaborated on artistic and educational projects with the Union League Club, Boys and Girls Club, Chicago Theatre Company, Pegasus Players, Evanston District 65 schools, Theatre Building Chicago and other organizations.
The company also presents concerts and outreach programs at schools, hospitals, nursing homes, civic organizations, festivals and other community events.